REGINA — Three men who are jointly on trial for first-degree murder in the death of a 54-year-old Regina man are pointing the finger of blame at each other and a street gang for what happened at a house party in August 2014.

Monday’s closing arguments were also interrupted by an outburst from accused Johnathon Peepeetch, 23, who suddenly stood and interrupted the prosecution’s statement.

He asked if the Crown is “allow to lie about evidence” and was told by the judge to sit down before court was adjourned for a short break.

Peepeetch’s lawyer said his client was being made a scapegoat by the Native Syndicate street gang, while the lawyer for Dennis Thompson, 32, also said his client was being framed by the gang.

Crown prosecutor James Fitz-Gerald called all the finger-pointing irrelevant, saying “everybody in that bush knew Mr. Douglas was going to die.”

According to witnesses at the trial, Douglas had gone out one evening while his wife was out of town and ran into a woman he knew. Along with a group of people, they went to the party at a home known to be frequented by members of the gang.

After drinking and taking cocaine, things turned ugly and some of those at the party beat Douglas and robbed him.

The Crown recounted Monday how Douglas was bound and forcibly stuffed into the trunk of a car before being taken to a wooded area by six people, including the three accused.

His body was later found on that rural property, and an autopsy concluded he died of blunt force trauma to the head.

A 19-year-old who himself faces a separate trial in the case testified that he was there when a sledgehammer was passed around so all the members of the group, including him, could take turns hitting Douglas.

Another witness told court that Peepeetch hit Douglas with the sledgehammer but Wilson stabbed him with a knife.

Wilson’s lawyer, Kevin Hill, argued there is no evidence linking his client to the murder and suggested Peepeetch was the catalyst for what happened.

“Douglas died of blunt force trauma to the head,” Hill said. “Joshua Wilson never touched his head. It is unclear whether Josh Wilson even struck Mr. Douglas.”

Peepeetch’s lawyer, Lori Johnstone-Clarke, argued her client wasn’t even a member of the gang at the time.

“Josh Wilson and his strikers were in control the day Shawn Douglas died,” she said. “They have motive to lie.”

Thompson’s lawyer, Kathy Hodgson-Smith, argued the witnesses at the trial were operating on instructing from the gang “to come before you and spin a lie.”

She noted her client did not have Douglas’s DNA on him.

James Fitz-Gerald argued all three “intended for Mr. Douglas to die” so are equally guilty: “The actual person who swung the fatal blow is irrelevant.”

The judge’s charge to the jury was expected Tuesday morning, and then deliberations will begin.